More like a 400€ product, but wife is really happy about her Oura ring. Apparently it's quite helpful, how the ring (via phone app) nags at you to sleep more. Or tells you to take it easy on some days when you have failed to get a proper sleep last night.
Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
171–180 of 205 posts
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#172My Miele canister vacuum. I appreciate engineering perfection even in disciplines that are not my own and this is it. There’s an inexplicable joy in using a tool that flawlessly executes its job.
We also bought a Miele canister vacuum in 2022. We moved to a larger apartment, so I thought we should have something better suited to the job. It is fantastic and vacuuming is a joy. So much nicer than the terribly heavy Dyson we have with laser and whatnot (though the Dyson is ok for quick kitchen vacuuming).
I bought a Miele canister vacuum in 2008. Still going strong after 15 years and many pet hairs. They're built very well.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#173This was technically the end of 2021, but I got a new gaming/workstation desktop. I have an RTX 3080 which I can make AI images with, as well as learn more about deep learning since I have a GPU handy. It also has 16 cores that come in very handy for compiling programs, I don't have to wait anymore. Along with that, I bought an LG OLED 48 inch TV that I use as a monitor, the screen space is amazing. Along with that,…
You have to expand on your last point please!
See my sibling comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34279921
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#174Planar magnetic headphones with large drivers, specifically Audeze LCD-2 with denser foam embouchures (ear pads). They wrap my ears in a very comfortable and isolating way; they are formidable in terms of delivering sound the way I want for the music I like; they are very responsive to EQ, hence tuneable to a lot of ears. And their downside of being heavy surprisingly aligns with pomodoro timings: if my neck is getti…
It was a gift and not all that expensive, but I love my Fostex T20RPmk3 planar driver headphones. Works really well with the quad DAC in my LG G8 phone. They also make closed (T40RPmk3) and semi-open (T50RPmk3) models with different shells.
I'm also on the lookout for replacement earphones with clear midrange/vocals and neutral but lively sound and extended but non emphasized bass/treble. I have some discontinued JVC HA-FXD80 imported from Japan but it seems to be getting a bit worn though still pretty good and I want something for when they finally give out.
A replacement phone with really good analog out would be nice too for when my discontinued LG goes.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#175Powerful computer, good large monitor, quiet wireless mouse and keyboard. We spend so much time in front of a screen, but it’s easy to stay with old tech as it still work and do the same thing, but quality and speed matter. An improvement of a few percent pay for itself many times. Choosing the best with what you work with will push you to also be the best at what you do, it serve as a yardstick to measure your work.
Same here, my best investment last year was upgrading from a 2017 i7 laptop (with no GPU), to a 2022 desktop with a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and my productivity difference is like night and day, wish I had upgraded sooner.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#176Huge 900mm induction cooktop. Having lots of space for pans and 400V/16A induction was a real change from my old cooktop.
I went induction cooktop ~5 years ago and would never go back, it's been amazing. It's super fast but also very easy to clean.
natural gas has run a pretty effective propaganda campaign against induction. we are switching soon and i'm very excited!
climate town has a fun video about it, he's a climate policy and science grad
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#177I'm not the only person saying this: getting an espresso machine was the biggest QoL improvement from one purchase I've ever had. Although you do have to enjoy and be excited about manually making espresso. For me I specifically wanted to go through the process (grinding, tamping, etc) since being able to vary the result, pick the coffee, etc is part of the enjoyment, so a machine that uses Nespresso pods or the like…
I've been drinking good espresso for many years (locally and freshly roasted beans, good grinder and espresso machine, etc), then moved to aeropress and been sticking with americano for the last year. Now, I'm trying not to drink any coffee for a month to check if it's the reason I'm getting extremely anxious lately.
I've been down that road but have more or less convinced myself the coffee wasn't the problem. Although I don't drink _all_ that much. Coffee does seem to make it a bit harder to be self-aware, though .. like your energy levels are higher but they leave less time for the kind of boredom that causes you to have thoughts about stuff you've been avoiding thinking about.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#178Planar magnetic headphones with large drivers, specifically Audeze LCD-2 with denser foam embouchures (ear pads). They wrap my ears in a very comfortable and isolating way; they are formidable in terms of delivering sound the way I want for the music I like; they are very responsive to EQ, hence tuneable to a lot of ears. And their downside of being heavy surprisingly aligns with pomodoro timings: if my neck is getti…
It was a gift and not all that expensive, but I love my Fostex T20RPmk3 planar driver headphones. Works really well with the quad DAC in my LG G8 phone. They also make closed (T40RPmk3) and semi-open (T50RPmk3) models with different shells. I'm also on the lookout for replacement earphones with clear midrange/vocals and neutral but lively sound and extended but non emphasized bass/treble. I have some discontinued JVC…
Didn’t expect somebody here to mention LG phones regarding audio, but they are surprisingly nice indeed. Good stuff!
Don’t know about replacement for the phone, but maybe a discreet player would work for you? Some old multibit Hifiman or a small but punchy Fiio could be fun and maybe even really cheap, depending on your location etc.
As for the headphones, did you consider Hifiman Sundara? It’s not an upgrade too expensive (relatively speaking ofc), and I heard they can be tailored well to one’s taste with eq, so maybe that could be an option.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#179I spent ~$2700 on a new mattress. I no longer wake up with hip or lower back pain. My sleeps are an order of magnitude better. I ended up with a Tempurpedic. I spent about 2 hours trying every mattress at the store and bought the one that felt best. There’s probably a million hacks to get that mattress cheaper, but I regret nothing. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made. It also came with 2 “free” memory foam pill…
Oh yeah, 100% agree this is the clear-cut best answer. If you can only upgrade one big thing, make it your mattress.
Re: Ask HN: What $500-2500 product improved your 2022
#180I got rid of cable and the Xfinity platform. Replaced it with a Xbox series X and the streaming apps work 10x better.
I don’t watch a lot of shows, bit when I do there is almost no technology friction.